Srinagar, April 16 -- April 16, 2024, remains etched in grief. A boat ferrying residents - mostly schoolchildren and women - capsized midstream, claiming eight lives. One body, that of 40-year-old Showkat Ahmad Sheikh, was never found. For his family, every ripple of the river is a reminder of the search that never ended.

Today, a bridge stands where there was none - finally constructed after years of delay. It's functional, sturdy, and much needed. But for many in Gandbal, it's a monument not of development, but of delay. A structure that rose only after death demanded it.

"This bridge is a lifeline now, but it arrived after lives were lost," said Mohammad Umer, a local. "Had it been constructed earlier, maybe our children would still ...